ViXs Provides Wireless Video for Toshiba

Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC), a subsidiary of Toshiba, has created a reference design called the AVM79R for future media center appliances in the home. To make sure it’s future proof, it’ll be wireless with XCode, the integrated circuit from ViXs Systems of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which adjusts video bit-rates, formats, and resolutions on the fly for stream MPEG videos on wired and wireless networks.

“We talked to them starting last year after Comdex, with respect to XCode,” says Roy Stewart, ViXs’s senior vice president of corporate development. “They had wired implementations but they were impressed with what XCode could do with wireless video. We’ve collaborated with them on the new ref design.

The AVM79R runs on a MIPS RISC processor and is designed for fast development by ODMs and OEMs. Stewart calls it “production deployable” and expects the first products based on the design should be available before the 2003 holiday season.

The AVM79R design will include a hard drive and DVD drive; S-Video, USB and IDE connections; full MPEG-4 support, and of course the XCode providing format conversion from MPEG 1, 2, or 4 as needed, as well as encryption/decryption.

ViXs sees Toshiba’s use of the XCode as a validation of their platform-agnostic approach to wireless video over IP. Ciricia Proulx, director of corporate marketing at ViXs says, “Toshiba’s been in the video and television business for a long time, and the recognition of XCode is great for us

The two companies will jointly market and sell the product.